What You Need
by megsong
Summary: AU where Cas is a patient in a mental hospital and Dean is his new nurse and the only one that has gotten Cas out of his shell. Thanks to gabrielwinjester for the cover!
1. Chapter 1

What You Need

**Chapter 1**

"Hi I'm Dean, I'm your new nurse, and I'm going to ask you a few questions. First, who are you?"

"I'm Castiel. I'm an angel of the lord. I'm the one who gripped you tight and raised you from perdition."

"Alright Castiel, how are you feeling today? Did you get much sleep?"

"I am fine. Celestial beings don't need sleep."

Dean sighed and jotted down all Castiels' answers on the mental hospitals form. He was glad to have this job of course, now he could support Sammy, who was going to an elite private school. The anonymous donor who sent Dean to nursing school and referenced him to this place had really saved him. Without this Dean wouldn't have been able to afford the fancy school that Sam deserved, but this job was pretty depressing. A pretty young girl down the hall named Ruby thought that she was a demon, and an older Scottish man on the second floor thought he was the king of hell. Dean felt bad for these people; they believed these things with such conviction that it almost seemed real.

Dean finished updating the chart and walked past his new patient sitting on the bed to open the blue cloud patterned shades coving the window that overlooked the community gardens that the mental hospital shared with the surrounding neighborhood. There were no clouds in the sky and some people in gardening gloves were crouched next to a plot of newly turned soil.

"It looks like there are some people from down the block planting some flowers in the garden today! Maybe you could go help them out, get some fresh air, what do you think?"

Castiel sighed and looked at the wall across from his bed, his favorite paintings covering the dull gray wall. Today he focused on his print of "La Bella Principessa" by Leonardo Da Vinci. He had become interested in it after seeing a documentary on its authentication on documentary night in the commons two months ago. His little sister Anna had brought the print for him two weeks ago, after his long letter to her describing the thrill of seeing how art dealers figured out that it was made by Leonardo Da Vinci.

Now he gazed the print on his wall, Bianca Sforza staring forward at nothing. Castiel loved the details, the individual eyelashes, the shading on her cheeks, and the intricacy of her hair.

His eyes snapped up to Dean, who had moved close to the picture, squinting with curiosity.

"So you like art huh?" Dean questioned, tilting his head as if trying to see deeper and deeper into the drawing.

"Yes, I think it is one of the greatest things humans have done." Castiel stated.

He was very straightforward, Dean noticed. He definitely had the air of an angel down pretty well for a crazy guy. Dean turned and smiled sympathetically at Castiel.

"Well it was nice to meet you Castiel and I hope I'll see you around today! I think there's an art class going on at 3 o'clock in the courtyard if you're interested. I'll see you later okay?" Dean grinned at the scruffy man in the trench coat.

"Okay. Sounds good, Dean." Castiel replied, turning just in time to catch Deans' bright green eyes watching him. Castiel cocked his head to the side and thought of words to describe those eyes.

"Olive, sea glass, moss, fern, apple pie, ocean wind, wild grass at the end of summer, and emerald." Castiel stated matter-of-factly, keeping his gaze trained on the pools of Deans eyes, not wanting to look away for fear that he would miss something.

"What?" Deans' eyebrows scrunched together, his smile still in place, polite, quizzical, but still genuine and beautiful, noticeable from across the room.

"Your eyes. That's what they look like." Castiels eyes never wavered from Deans' wanting to soak up that color and emotion so he could look at it and have it whenever he wanted.

Dean looked down and scratched the back of his neck shyly before straitening and returning Castiels' scrutiny.

"Ice, mountains, tide pools, blueberries, light through curtains, aquamarine, April rain, and my favorite wool sweater."

Castiel quirked his lips in what Dean could see was an almost unnoticeable smile. Dean returned the quiet, personal look before turning out of the room and closing the door behind him.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Dean was leaned against the nurses' station, filing away this mornings' newly filled out charts from his three patients, Ruby, Crowley, and Castiel. As he slid the folders into the filing cabinet he felt a hand on his left shoulder.

"Hello Dean"

Dean turned to the deep voice behind him, already knowing who it was.

"Hey! Cas! Can I call you Cas? It's good to see you out and about!" Dean beamed unreasonably happy to see the man again.

"Yes, you may call me Cas. I wanted to know if you were going to any of the activities today and if I could join you."

Dean didn't know the protocol on the staff joining in on the activities, but he was pretty sure it was a rare occurrence. But still, when he had been assigned to Castiel, Bobby, the director of the hospital, had told him that Cas didn't do anything and could use a new face.

"Uh sure, the painting class sounds fun to me!" Dean self-consciously looked down at his watch, Cas watching him intently, "It starts in half an hour so why don't we go get a bite to eat first!"

Cas nodded and let himself be led to the small communal dining room and then to a table in the corner, a cheery mural of the ocean on the wall to his right and a mural of a multi-cultural neighborhood on his left. He sighed and sat down with his back to the corner and sat contently as Dean sat down across from him.

"So Cas, what do you like to eat? I'm a big fan of bacon cheeseburgers and pie."

Cas thought about it, "I would like to try what you are having."

Dean smiled down at his hands, "I'll go order them!" He stood from the black plastic chair and walked across the room to the kitchen where he asked the chef, Ellen, for two bacon cheeseburgers and two pieces of pie. He had barely worked here a month but Ellen had already become a sort of mentor to him.

"Coming right up sweetie! Stay here so we can chat while I cook."

Dean walked back to the counter and leaned up against it.

"I can't believe you got the angel out of his room that fast! He usually only comes out of his room for art documentaries and beekeeping workshops!" Ellen said, her back turned to Dean, the burgers sizzling on the grill.

"Well I guess he likes me," Dean shrugged, looking back at the man in the corner, worrying the sleeve of his trench coat and staring distantly at a bright purple octopus with a smiley face, "though I don't know why."

Ellen shook her head, "He is a strange one even for here, and it's good that he finally has someone he seems to trust." She turned from the stove to give Dean a motherly look, the kind that Dean craved. "You be careful, I can tell that you like him too. Keep it professional and don't get too close. I don't want you getting hurt okay honey?"

Dean grinned and looked down at the grainy gray countertop, "Alright, I'll be careful Ellen, don't you worry about me." He looked up to catch Ellens' eye, smiling softly at her look of concern and protectiveness.

He loved that look. It was the kind of look a mother gave her son before sending him to the next door neighbors' house to borrow eggs for the double chocolate chip cookies she was making. Dean missed that look, the one he barely remembered since he had only been 4 ¾ when his mom died in a house fire.

He gave Ellen a reassuring nod before going back to inspecting the speckled marble counter.

Ellen finished making the burgers and heated two pieces of apple pie, placing all of it on a bright red plastic tray and sliding it across the tabletop. "You go take care of your angel sweetie. It was nice catching up!"

Dean grinned widely at Ellen, "Yeah, it was."

Dean took the tray and walked it back to the table where Cas was sitting, giving Ellen a little goodbye wave. As Dean approached Cas looked away from the gaudy sea creatures to gaze at Dean. Cas seemed to gaze a lot; it seemed like he was always staring intently at something.

"I got the burgers Mr. Novak!" Dean chirped cheerily. He sat down across from the man and handed him his food. Castiel inspected the content of the plate that Dean set in front of him, a burger and a piece of apple pie, before picking up the burger and taking a big bite.

After chewing and contemplating Cas looked into Deans eyes and stated "These make me very happy."

Dean broke out into a genuine smile, a smiled he rarely used at the hospital.

When Dean checked Castiels chart after the meal he realized that that was the first full meal that the man had eaten in two months.


End file.
